


Send Him To His Rest

by TheDiamondSword400



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Catatonic Munkustrap, Character Death, Death, Death Fic, Depression, Emotional Hurt, I cried writting this, I'm Sorry, Insomnia, Intense, Macavity cares about his brothers, Munkustrap & Rum Tum Tugger are Siblings, Munkustrap and Macavity are siblings, Poor Munkustrap, Sad, Sad Ending, intense depression, mention of souls, poor everyone really, poorly handled depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:53:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23875012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDiamondSword400/pseuds/TheDiamondSword400
Summary: Munkustrap has always been tired. He just never expected it to get worse. (Read the tags and warnings)
Relationships: Demeter/Munkustrap (Cats), Macavity & Rum Tum Tugger & Munkustap
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	Send Him To His Rest

Munkustrap was tired.  
He had always been a bit sleep deprived, truth be told.  
Without fail, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer would get bored and try to cause some mischief at an ungodly hour. Or Pouncival's midnight zoomies would get out of hand and Plato or Alonzo would need help corralling the youngster. Or his mind would race and refuse to quiet, denying him sleep for hours.  
But he had found ways to deal with these.  
Mistoffelees had been easy to convince to magic up a kitten playground near where Pouncival slept and the kitten was more then happy to stay in that small space instead of running rampant through the yard.  
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had proved quite partial to puzzle boxes and other such mind games and it was a simple matter to provide them with a steady supply.  
As for his racing mind? Well, a few of Jenny's home remedies and Demeter's listening ear had things well in hand.  
But recently . . .  
Recently things had changed.  
It was like his very bones had gotten tired. Building up the energy to just get out of bed was a nearly impossible feat. And even if he was able to, it hurt him to the core. But he could not sleep, able to do nothing more then stare at the ceiling of his den all night unable to close his eyes. The whole world seemed to fade to a dull sort of gray and become lifeless around him. Even the stars and moon seemed to cast no light. Nothing seemed able to move him anymore. Even the Jellicle Ball fast approaching could not spark an emotion in him.  
“We didn't mean to make him sick!” Jerrie and Teazer swore and Pouncival sobbed when the first signs started to show.  
“It's not you.” Munkustrap assured them and hugged them close. This was the last time he showed any emotion.  
“That's fine.” he said when Alonzo had suggested he take over the patrols with the help of Plato and Mungojerrie. That was the last day he had any inflection to his voice.  
“Someone else.” he mumbled, sitting slumped over on the tire and too tired to even meet her eyes when Jenny asked if he wanted to sing her song again this year or if he'd rather someone else give it a go.  
“You sing it.” he sighed wearily when Tugger asked about what play they should put on for the upcoming ball, laying unmoving in his bed.  
“It's not physical.” Jennyanydots declared after examining him, troubled. She stayed with him for hours after this, stroking his hair as he just gazed at the wall without acknowledging her. She would say it was the worst night of her life til the end of her days.  
“It's not magical.” Macavity told Alonzo after he was caught in Munkustrap's den. The Napoleon of Crime was sitting in Munk's bed with the silver tabby's head and shoulders in his lap. Alonzo would have killed the red cat for this at any other time. But under the criminal cat's magical influence Munkustrap's eyes were finally shut. And Macavity's face was filled with such intense concern as he stared down at the former Protector the patched cat let them be. It was no longer hard to remember that they were brothers.  
“It's not mental.” Coricopat told the tribe, guilty at being unable to find the cause of the malady. For all his skills in healing the mind it pained him to be unable to help one of his dearest friends.  
Tantomile remained silent when asked and left without a word. This was taken as confirmation that she too had been unable to help or find a cause.  
At the Ball the tribe was overjoyed to see him sitting curled up upon the pipe. But he just gazed blankly upon them and did not react when the kittens tried to engage him in their play. He did not respond when Tugger tried to speak to or include him. For all his stubbornness even Tugger gave up eventually with a broken expression. Macavity, who had been perched high up on a junkpile and out of the way, came down and sat with Tugger after this. Offering his youngest sibling some much needed comfort. Even the miracle of his brothers getting along did not garner anything from Munkustrap. Nothing seemed to reach him and he seemed unaware of the passing of time.  
When Old Deuteronomy arrived and caught sight of his catatonic son he traded a profound look with Tantomile.  
And when the time came to make the Jellicle Choice, the tribe was horrified when he turned to gaze upon Munkustrap  
Old Deuteronomy just pulled his son off the pipe and hugged him close one last time as Tantomile began to sing and the others reluctantly joined in.  
Munkustrap moved in a dazed shamble as he was led to the tire, the tribe crying as they gave his hands a final squeeze as he passed them. His face remained utterly blank as the spectral staircase descended from the stars and he started the climb.  
Halfway up he stopped and looked back. His eyes lingered for a moment on each and everyone of them and they began to cry anew when they met his gaze. His blue eyes danced and sparkled with emotion again and he smiled down at them one last time, wide enough to show his dimples.  
Then disappeared from view amongst the clouds.

“It was not a goodbye.” Tantomile would assure them in the days to come “He will return to us. His soul has simply gone to take its rest.”

The End


End file.
